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VFK Crossword Quest 2012
Description Friday, February 24th, was the first day of American Crossword Puzzle Week! This week is devoted to the most popular "game of words" ever! Even though crossword puzzles are less than a century old, they are the most widely played word puzzles in the world! Millions of people in the US alone solve crossword puzzles every day! So, sharpen your pencil, or if you dare, get out a pen, and join the fun while we solve this quest on the history of Crossword Puzzles! Your reward for completing this quest will be 1,000 credits, and a Crossword Puzzle Book Swing! Prizes Questions 1. It all began in 1913, when Arthur Wynne, originally from England, was asked by his editor to introduce a new puzzle for the weekly Sunday "Fun" section of the American newspaper where he worked. His responsibility, an eight page section that included comics as well as exercises to sharpen the mind, needed a new feature. The section included fun things to do such as games, hidden word puzzles, connect-the-dot drawings and anagrams. Which edition of the New York World Fun Section introduced the new word puzzle? * The April Fool's Edition * The Easter Edition * The Christmas Edition * The Fourth of July Edition 2. The Christmas edition, published December 21st, 1913 contained Wynne's response to his editor's request to come up with something new and different for the section. Wynne named his puzzle "Word-cross," and his puzzle was the very first "Crossword" puzzle. The name was changed to "Cross-word" after a few weeks, and then much later, the hyphen was dropped from the name. Go to the Waterfall in Australia and say: "Word Puzzle!" 3. The model for Wynne's puzzle come from a game he'd played as a child. The puzzle format he used dated back to ancient times and had even been found in the ancient ruined city of Pompeii. The puzzle designed for children had words all of the same length and when solved, the words read the same across as down. What was the name of this ancient puzzle form? * Magic Squares * Mystery Squares * Square Words * Wizard Words 4. In Wynne's version of the Magic Square puzzles, also called "word squares," Wynne placed the answer squares in a diamond shape and didn't include any black squares. He assigned numbers to the squares at the start and end of each word and wrote simple clues for the words. The word "FUN" was filled in at the top to get the puzzle started. Go to the Laser Tag Outer Lobby in Space Age and say: "It was a game of words!" 5. The new puzzle became successful immediately and became a staple in the weekly Fun section. As Wynne experimented with different shapes for the puzzle, such as a circular shape, which shape did he finally choose? * Triangle Shaped * Square Shaped * Rectangular Shaped * Spiral Shaped 6. Despite the popularity of the puzzle, the only newspaper that carried the feature was the New York World, until 1924. The instructions for the puzzle were printed on the first crossword and read, "Fill in the small squares with words which agree with the following definitions." Go to Stonehenge in Medieval Age and say: "Never a cross word!" 7. The event in 1924 that introduced competition to the New York World, came from two young graduates from the Columbia School of Journalism, Dick Simon and Lincoln Schuster. These two young men were starting a publishing business and were searching for something to publish. They chose a book of puzzles by the New York World! Where did the idea to publish this book originate? * Lincoln Schuster's Uncle * Dick Simon's Aunt * Dick Simon's next door neighbor * Lincoln Schuster's roommate from Columbia 8. The story goes, that Dick Simon's aunt, who loved solving crossword puzzles, asked her nephew if he knew of any crossword puzzle books that she could give as a present to a friend. After investigating it, Simon discovered that the market was wide open! No one had published a single crossword puzzle book! It was the perfect opportunity for their new company. Go to the Sydney Opera House front and say: "A puzzle a day!" 9. Even though Wynne, the "Father of the crossword puzzle," was from Liverpool, England, the style of crossword puzzles varies by country. American style crossword puzzles usually have a square shaped grid filled with black and white squares. Only a sixth of the squares are usually black and the pattern varies, but is symmetrical. What are people called who create crossword puzzles? * Crosswordists * Puzzlelists * Cryptographists * Cruciverbalists 10. The people who create crosswords have different writing styles when creating their clues. Some of them even become well known for their clue style and develop a fan base! When solving a puzzle, the best place to start is usually with a fill-in-the-blank clue, because these clues are usually the easiest. Go to Outside the Mercantile in Western Age and say: "Enjoy American Crossword Puzzle Week!" Answers 1. The Christmas Edition 2. Go to the Australian Waterfall in Australia and say: "Word Puzzle!" 3. Magic Squares 4. Go to the Laser Tag Outer Lobby in Space Age and say: "It was a game of words!" 5. Rectangular Shaped 6. Go to Stonehenge in Medieval Age and say: "Never a cross word!" 7. Dick Simon's Aunt 8. Go to the Sydney Opera House front and say: "A puzzle a day!" 9. Cruciverbalists 10. Go to Outside the Western Mercantile in Western Age and say: "Enjoy American Crossword Puzzle Week!" Category:Quests